I Knew You Once
by didsomeonesayventus
Summary: Xemnas has his armor as a friend, but there's another one he's trying to remember... Xemnas being creepery with Sora/Ven ideas


Xemnas wandered through the aimless streets of The World That Never Was. His footsteps were the only noise in the air: tap, tap, tap, tap... It wasn't raining, but certainly threatening to. Kingdom Hearts sat ominously in the sky in a silent vigil to the empty world.

The Nobody slipped through a dark corridor, and the world fell into complete silence.

...

Sora was already fast asleep on this little world they called home for the night. What was it? The Land of Dragons? The proper nomenclature didn't matter to the boy. His dreams had no need of where they were grounded, only ideas to follow into the heavens. Donald and Goofy were asleep as well. The three of them had decided earlier that they all needed a proper sleep, and had cleared the forested area of any Heartless they could find long before.

None of them stirred when Xemnas stepped into the glade. As if to mock how they were sleeping on the job, Xemnas turned to Donald and Goofy and held a finger to his lips with an impudent grin.

When through with his taunting, Xemnas walked over to Sora. Carefully he ensured the boy wouldn't stir with soft footsteps. Indeed, Sora didn't wake. He was lying on his back, head watching the starry sky and arms folded over his chest. He seemed completely at peace, unaware of the danger that was now knelt beside him.

Xemnas continued studying him. His memory began forming its own little chunks, letting ghosts of an age gone by be remembered and forgotten. He couldn't remember what he remembered, to be honest. Normally it was only his precious- yet lifeless and empty like himself -armor at the bottom of the ruins of Radiant Garden (commonly known today as Hollow Bastion) that caused these fragments to surface. But Sora- living, breathing -seemed to almost instill a kind of madness Xemnas found unbearably enticing.

Sora mumbled a little in his sleep and rubbed his nose. Xemnas recalled a very similar nose, then eyes that were just as blue, golden hair and a laughing smile that only faded once. Roxas- having the physical look Xemnas remembered -tended to cause a similar memory to surface, but he always trumped it with how quiet and pensive he acted. Sora, however, showed no reservation with his emotions, and became a stronger trigger. He acted like this old... Friend. The looks were similar, but different. It was the attitude he held that made Xemnas poignantly remember.

Xemnas dared to speak, a crooning whisper that hung in the air like smoke, "I knew you before this time." Sora's dreamy smile flickered a moment. He didn't notice one of Xemnas's bangs brushing his cheek, "I knew you when you weren't always sleeping."

Xemnas wondered briefly how Sora could still hold the lingering scent of sea salt when he hadn't been to his home in over a year. It brought another sensory detail to the surface, "I knew you when you smelled like spring rain and lemon zest..." Cautiously his gloved hand stroked Sora's cheek, "I knew you when I could touch you, comfort you, and no one would pay any mind to it." That hand slowly drifted to Sora's heart, "How, oh how, does your heart retain its light after so long?"

Sora mumbled a little. Xemnas removed his hand, asking again, "Surely all of it should have faded with all the years we have been parted..." Sora's expression shuddered when Xemnas added, "friend."

The silence waited for one of them to move. For Sora to wake, for Xemnas to realize that perhaps he had gone too far and make the choice to leave. Sora seemed to be having a nightmare, but he didn't wake. Xemnas was watching every twitch and tweak of his expression with complete rapture. He could almost remember a name... A name of a boy from so long ago...

Xemnas leaned up next to Sora's ear and whispered, "I knew you once, and I shall know you again."

He vanished into darkness just before Sora yelled and woke up.

Donald buzzed in alarm at the sudden noise and toppled onto his stomach. He grabbed his hat, "Heartless?!"

Goofy yawned and grabbed his shield, "Imma ready for 'em..."

Sora rubbed his cheek and laughed, "Nah, nah, it's not that..." His voice dipped into a quiet crack, "Just a really disturbing nightmare."

Donald shrugged and grumpily went back to sleep, "It was only a dream, Sora. Get back to sleep, you need your rest."

Sora nodded, "I guess." He settled back into his slumber. Sora sat there a moment, staring at the stars. "I knew you once," he muttered as his eyelids drooped, "and I shall know you again... Wonder what that means."

* * *

><p>oKAY Xemnas had a severe lack of Ventus memory obsession in KH2 even with the final mix stuff so I just remedied that<p> 


End file.
